NICHOLAS

Drop-out prevention project progressMarch 2013

NDPC SD and WVDE

NICHOLAS COUNTY

• Rural• enrollment 4052 • 99% white, 0.51% are black and

0.46% are other. • 62% free and/or reduced meals• 18% SWD

Our Team

• Gene Collins Attendance Director/Social Director *• Nancy Losh-Teacher/Recorder• Bill Dobbins-HS Principal /Coach• Tom Bayless-Special Ed Coordinator/Behavior/Discipline• Erin Hickman-MS Counselor• Bethany King-MS Principal Team Leader *• Christina Bailey-Elem. Principal/Data • Kathy Sibbett-Special Ed. Director/Administrator• Kandy Rapp-HS counselor• Kristina Dotson- HS teacher• Beverly Kingery- Superintendent

Starting points(before the project)

Grad rate

Year SWD All

08-09 42.5% 72%09-10 54% 70% Drop out numbers

Year All07-08 8708-09 7709-10 52

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTNDPC-SD Technical Assistance

Research

Areas of focusReduce failure rate English and math

classesIncrease achievement scores WESTEST

reading and mathImprove social/emotional well being

Things we shared------** stood out to the team

achievement rates **achievement gap all vs. SWD rates RLA/Math

dropout rates ** improvements made in last few years

class failure rates ** in Math biological sciences

Other data sources:

Culture survey both high schools Drop out survey data (dislike of school #1 reason for drop out)

Dropout Factors• Attendance and

Truancy Prevention

• Behavior• Course

Performance-Academic Content and Instruction

• Student Engagement

• Parent Engagement

• School Climate

Students indicated they did not like school because they were not involved in sports or extra curricular areas. They were disengaged with school leading to the perception they were unpopular or not cared for by others.

Academically, students (especially SWD ) indicated the work in RLA and math classes was too difficult and they did not receive enough assistance in subjects in which they struggled.

Interventions

• Expanded learning opportunities Saturday attendance Alternative school in two locations Virtual courses Homebound instruction/support Community work based learning After school programs At risk interventionists all secondary

Key Data

Superintendent/BOE staff information NCLB private site grad rate and drop out rate NCLB achievement data from private site for

individual schools WVEIS queries on course failure rate- both

high schools

When comparing data, we compared to state data in all areas in which it was available to us.

Initial Plan

• Initial focus covered broad areas of improvement in achievement scores and improvement needed in the areas of social emotional wellbeing for students. We had some drop out prevention programs in place (court/options pathways) .

Team had strong consensus that academic improvement was the big area that needed

assistance.

Plan Revisions

• Narrowed our focus• Added more steps/strategies that were doable

at secondary school level. • Separated strategies and tailored them for

schools. • Improved evaluation component of plan by

addition of more concrete data collection in order to evaluate strategy effectiveness.

Final Plan

• Eliminated one step/program; too overwhelming for schools at moment

• Added extra alternative school programs (Saturday school, virtual, alternative sites, afterschool programs, combinations of all)

• Continued at risk interventionists at all middle and high school

• Increased intensive SPL and behavior/strategy training at all schools/principals.

Plan Evaluation and Adjustments• Phase I: Initial Plan Graduation rate increased 4% for all, including SWD

Implementation of RLA program not implemented

• Phase II: Revised Plan- Did not meet WESTEST goal in Math/Eng Co-teaching Math/English, 100% both HS Student mentor program developing in both HS Decreased Drop out rate slightly

• Phase III: Final Plan - Clubs established at both HS- attendance good

SWD projected Grad rate high at NCHS; d/o SWD low

County Developed Resources/Tools

WVDE: Cohort Document and Data

• Reviewed lists for reasons for dropout.

Cumbersome . does not mark students as SWD, or Low SES etc.

Improvement suggestions• Give verbage instead of number codes for ease of

use. • Mark students in columns provided

WVDE: Early Warning System Tool

Some Principals trained- usage is not high among these

EWS Principal training scheduled

Schools use self assessment, lists and SAT/SPL process to indicate at risk students in need of assistance in any area.

Use of Funds

2011- Used for PD for book study with all Principals and

stipends/subs

2012- Speaker for all personnel/ stipends/subs

2013- Plans to use for PD SPL training / co-teaching training

Data Trends-Dropout

2008 2009 2010 2011 201280 74 50 39 19

academic difficulty and dislike of school consistently top two

Projected Graduation/Dropout ResultsDrop Out Data

2009 2010

2011

2012 2013 so far!

 74 50 39 19 13

Drop Out/Graduation Trends

2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

# drop outs % graduation rate

Moving Forward and Next StepsNicholas Co. continues to:

• Require drop out conference with superintendent before drop out status is approved

• Work with court system and DHHR to target students in trouble and at risk for drop out/failure

• Provide academic/at risk interventionists at all grade levels all schools • Provide alternate learning environments for students who do not do well in

‘traditional’ school programming• Provide support in every HS math and English class with Special ed Collab

teacherNicholas Needs to:

• Inform all principals of current graduation rate statistics/trends• Brainstorm other ideas to increase grad rates- principals’ meeting, 5 yr plan

focus requirement• Strengthen mentorship of middle and high school students• More frequent grade and credit checks

Key Components of Plan Development

Drop out conferences with administration. 1:1 face to face

Provide academic support to struggling readers at middle and high school level

Increase reading and math support at early elementary level (SPL that really works!)

Key Components for Maintenance

ContinueAlternatives to ‘traditional’ programmingAnd refine EWS usageTo involve all staff at all schoolsTo provide consistent early intervention

to struggling students at early age and throughout all grade levels

Lessons Learned

• Schedule regular meetings or gatherings before the year starts and publish these dates

• Reduce the number of committee members

• Establish committees at each school with a county liaison identified

• Stick with a good solid plan

Contact Information

Beverly Kingery- Superintendentbkingery@access.k12.wv.us

Kathy Sibbett- Special Ed Directorksibbett@access.k12.wv.us

304-872-3611

Thank you !